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3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

HLBEs. Y APPARATUS POR CUTTING GHENILLE FABRIC.

Patented Apr. 9, 1895.

yl--l 65.3.

` 3 Sheets-Sheeo 2.

(No Model.)

\ H.v LEES.

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING GHBNILLE FABRIC.

Patented Apr. 9, 1895.

(No Model.) 3. Sheets-Sheet 3. H. LEES. APPARATUS FOR GUTTING'CHENILLB FABRIC.

lPatentedAprl 9, 1895-.

F c. f7.

j -UNrrnn 'STATES' PATENT Ormea.

HOWARD'LEES, on DELPH, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FoR CUTTING CHENILLE FABRIC.v

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No."53'7,163, dated April 9, 1895. Application led September 14,1894. Serial No. 523,018. (No model.) latented in England December 30, 1893, No. 25,039.

To all whlom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, HOWARD LEES, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Delph, near Oldham, England, have invented'l certain Improvements in Apparatus for Cut-v ting Chenille Fabric, of which the following is a specification.

A patent has been granted in England, No. 25,039, dated December 30, 1893.

My said invention relates to, improvements in apparatus for cutting up chenille web or fabric into strips as is well understood. The said chenille fabric isusually but not always made from silk and the strips into which it is cut have the appearance of piled cordseach Y strip having a central warp thread or threads `nary chenille fabric.

intertwisted with and securely holding the severed weft ends whichform the pile of the chenille strip or cord.

The drawings to illustrate my invention are on three sheets as annexed and are arranged as follows: Figure 1 is a diagram of the ordi- Fig. 2 is a cut strip;

Fig. 3, a perspective sketch of the cutter showing one form of guide; Fig. 4, a view of improved form of guide, this being a modification of that shown in Fig. 3 and being the preferred form. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the chenille cutting apparatus. Fig. 6, is a side elevation. Fig.7 is an end elevation from the end marked X. Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of the guide plate,

. cutting disks and mandrel. Fig. 9 is a plan view of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is an edge view of cutters C shown strung on the mandrel with spacing washers between. Fig. 11 isa front View of a guide plate, and Figs. 12 and 13 show straight pegs used as guides for the Warp threads.

As an example, and to assist even the nontechnical reader to a thorough understanding of my invention I have sketched a rough'diagrammatic plan of the scheme of manufacture in the production of chenille fabrics.' This appears as Fig. 1 in Sheet l of the annexed three sheets of drawings. The binding warps are marked A and the wefts B. In the process of weaving, these wefts B are locked lby or intertwisted with the warps A the wefts oating between the spaced warps. To form chenille strips such as represented in Fig. 2,

. this fabric is cut up along the dotted lines x,

each of the'resulting strips having a warp or warps A in the center, holding and binding the severed weft ends B which project from thewarp on both sides as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The chief points of my invention are that I in the first place provide means whereby such uneven division of the wefts or anyaccidental cutting of the central warp threads is entirely obviated. In addition to these safeguards I also adopt improved forms of cutters for dividing the wefts, such cutters 1 consisting of a number of thin steel disks having sharpened cutting edges or peripheries, andstrung upon a central mandrel, the disks being separated fromeach other by distance washers of such a thickness as to maintain the disks at the required distance apart. These elements forming so important a part of my invention, I have shown the guides and the disks in a separate and enlarged perspecf tive view in Fig. 3 Sheet 1. The cutting disks are marked G, the guides D, the mandrel E, and the separating washersfF. A piece of chenille fabric is shown being passed through the cutters, the four resulting strips appearing atthe back of the cutters.

The pitch of the disks C may be varied in accordance with the pitch of the warps A and consequentlywith the desired breadth of chenille strip, by putting separating washers F of the necessary thickness, between the disks; or, otherwise, the cutting disks might be adjusted to the required distance apart by any other suitable or convenient means.I

ln front Lof the cutters C is a plate G having a series of slits or gates G into which the disk cutters enter. The pitch of the said slits or gates G must correspond exactly to the pitch of the cutters. Thechief feature of my improvement lies however in the employment of the guides D which are fixed in the plate G or otherwise immediately in front of the cutters C in such a manner that the central warps A of the chenille fabric are guided and maintained always in a positionequi-dis- IOO in Fig. 4 Sheet 1. In all cases what is neeessary is to provide gateways or passages H for the warps A, between and equi-distant from the cutting disks C, so that each warp A shall be always maintained in a position equi-distant from the disk on each side, thereby preventing the warps from ever coming in contact with the cutters and insuring an equal length of pile or cut weft on each side of each warp.

It will be noticed that the form of guide plate G illustrated at Fig. et is practically the same as the plate G with staple guides D as shown in Fig. 3. For example the nprights D in Fig. 4 are only staples similar to D in Fig. 3 and the openings H between the uprights are merely repetitions of the openings Hin Fig. The slit G2 in Fig. 4 is a continuation of the space between the staple legs D and the cutter C enters this slit as shown by the dotted circle in Fig. 4. As a matter of fact I prefer the latter form of guide plate and have shown it applied to the complete mechanism which I will now proceed to de` Scribe.

The parts of the apparatus are supported in side frames a held apart by stays in any suitable manner.

At one end of the machine is a flanged roller beam b upon which is coiled the chenille fabric A-B. The beam may either belong properly to the machine or it may be the roller upon which the fabric is coiled as it is Woven in the loom, the roller being afterward removed from the loom and placed in the bearings on the frame a. The axis of the roller ZJ has Va handwheel c by which the roller can be turned so as to wind on the fabric A-B when that is preferred. In some cases however I might pass the fabric direct from the loom to the cutters. Adhering however to the arrangement shown, the fabric is drawn from the beam toward the cutters C, the beam having a brake e which can be adjusted by the screw and nutsfso as to give the fabric any desired tension. Upon leaving the beam l) the fabric passes successively about the bars g, h, the latter bar being grooved as shown in Fig. 7 to a pitch similar to the pitch of the warp threads A of the fabric. This assists to keep the fabric steady. The fabric next passes over the guide plate G', the warps passing between the staple uprights D and the wefts encountering the cutters C whereby the wefts are severed and the fabric divided into a number of chenille strips. Upon leaving the cutters the strips pass between drawing rollers 7c 7c the upper drawing roller 7c being pressed upon the lower roller 71; by a spring Z and adjusting means as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

The driving of the cutters C and of the drawing rollers la la is effected in the following manner: First, as to the cutters C. These are strung upon a mandrel E supported in bearings upon the framing a, the respective cutters being kept apart by spacing washers F all as already described with reference to Sheet l and as illustrated in their true proportions in Figs. S', 9 and 10 in Sheet 3. @ne end ofthe mandrel E carries a pinion m which gears with a spur wheel n on the end of a cross spindle o. The opposite end of the spindle o carries a belt pulley p having a sleeve p and running loosely on the spindle o. A peg q extending from the pulley p enables it to engage with the disk r keyed to the spindle 0 when the pulley is thrust forward by the clutch lever s. (See Fig. 7.) Thus by manipulating the clutch lever s I can start or stop the machine at pleasure. I might however use a friction clutch or any other means of starting and stopping. The spindle o also carries a hand wheel t for driving the spindle o when power is not available. vThe drawing rollers 7c k are driven from the same spindle o by means of a pinion u on the spilldle which gears with a spur wheel fu on the axis 0f the drawing roller 7c. The rollers r 7n are geared together by pinions w w at the opposite ends of the rollers. The rollers are so geared as to give the necessary speed of draw, and as the strips are drawn forward they are coiled upon a roller a: supported in bearin gs at the back of the machine as plainly appears in Fig. 5. The taking-up roller w may be driven by a slip belt or by any other suitable means which will take into account the varying periphery speed of its contents.

The machine which I have just described is at present working with perfect success, but I do not of course confine myself to its exact details as these may be varied without departing from my invention.

In Figs. ll and l2 I show straight guiding pegs y instead of the wire staples or staple uprights which I have already described, but as hereinbefore said the mere form of these guiding parts is not an essential as any means for guiding the Warp threads equi-distantly or in a fixed relative position between the cutters would representmyinvention. Guides of this nature might be used not only in conjunction with the revolving disk cutters C hereinbefore described but also in conjunction with any other cutting means capable of being similarly used. For example such guides might be used in combination with the sectional cutters which it has been attempted to use in chenille cutting, or with reciprocating blades or jogging knives such as are used sometimes to sever the pile of pile fabrics during the operation of weaving.

In using my apparatus when the pitch apart of the cutters is altered it is necessary also to alter the pitch of the guides and gates and this can be most conveniently done by removing the guide plate and substituting another of the correct pitch.

One important advantage arising from the use of the circular disk cutters C is that they can bc speedily sharpened without removing them from the machine, all that is necessary being to set them in motion and apply a set stone to the edges.

I claim as my invention- IIO `1. In combination, in a chenille cutting apparatus, the cutters and the guide bar having slits formed in its rear edge to receive said cutters thus forming ngersprojecting betweenthe cutters, said fingers having guides extending upwardly therefrom and in line with the spaces between the cutters.

2. In combination in a chenille cutting ap- Y paratus, the cutter and the guide plate of angular form having a substantially horizontal portion and an upwardly extending rear por- HOWARD LEES.

Witnesses:

- JOSHUA ENTWISLE,

ALFRED YATES. 

